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The golf gods sure know how to repay honesty; just ask Webb Simpson. After knocking on the victory door on multiple occasions in 2011, Simpson appeared to be on the verge of his first PGA Tour win at the Zurich Classic.
With a one-shot lead at the time, Simpson figured he could make a handful of pars the rest of the way to lock up an invitation to the 2012 Masters. But as we've seen many times before, the golf gods have the ability to change any situation in a split second.
They certainly threw Simpson a curveball in that final round. After addressing his par putt on the 15th, he noticed his ball had moved. He immediately called a penalty on himself, making his short par putt and bogey putt, and letting Bubba Watson back into the tournament.
Simpson went on to lose to Bubba Watson in a playoff, but it was clear from his hard-luck rules situation that sooner or later Simpson would be repaid for his honest actions.
That day came in the final round of the Wyndham Championship, as Simpson coasted to a three-shot victory in his home state of North Carolina, making his first tour victory that much sweeter. Wielding a hot putter some precision iron play, Simpson made sure he didn't leave his first victory to chance this time around.
We talk all the time about guys being due for their first win, and Simpson was certainly a guy on the list. He'd been so close on numerous occasions that you knew it was only a matter of time before he captured the first of his career.
The golf gods can be cruel at times, but as we saw in the final round of the Wyndham, they can also be merciful, and have been known on many occasions to repay guys in full. They certainly did on Sunday afternoon.